Page Tools

Related

The Australian Defence Force has reopened its investigation into
the involvement of an SAS patrol in a battle in Afghanistan in
which 11 pro-coalition tribesmen died and 16 were wounded.

Time magazine has quoted the leader of the SAS patrol,
who was not named, as saying he left the army because of a cover-up
over the fight in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan in May
2002.

An Australian officer who visited the village a day after the
fighting told the tribesmen that Australia would pay compensation,
the magazine reported. It said the villagers complained that 50 or
more children had been orphaned in the fighting and no compensation
had been paid.

At the time the Defence Force confirmed that a skirmish with
"hostile forces" had taken place and said one enemy was believed to
have been killed.

The soldiers have been firmly backed by Prime Minister John
Howard, who said the SAS was "a fantastic unit" and he had great
confidence in and admiration for its members.

"We expect these incredibly well-trained and able men to
undertake life-endangering missions in our name and on our behalf,"
Mr Howard said.

"Inevitably when you get into a dangerous situation, people have
to take action to defend themselves.

"Nothing I have heard about this alters the fundamental fact
that they took proper action consistent with the laws of war to
defend themselves in anticipation of physical danger or death.
Every Australian would defend totally their right to do that."

A spokesman for the Defence Force said yesterday it was
reviewing the media reports and would take from them any issues
that might require further investigation or action.

After the Time report appeared this week, the Defence
Force confirmed that an Australian soldier was disciplined after
the shootout, apparently for taking a turban and a rifle from a
dead tribesman.

The shootings occurred during a bungled operation in May 2002 in
which five SAS men were part of an operation against the Taliban
and al-Qaeda in eastern Afghanistan, according to the report.

The Australians shot dead two Afghan villagers they believed to
be enemy fighters, and were later engaged in a battle in which
another nine civilians died, some killed by fire from an aircraft
called in to support the troops.

The Defence Force responded with a statement that an SAS patrol
was engaged in a contact in May 2002 and a larger SAS force, coming
to its assistance, was also involved in the action after it was
fired on.

The army later investigated and found that the Australians acted
in accordance with their rules of engagement. It said they fired in
response to direct threats to their safety.

Defence Minister Robert Hill said he would wait for a report
from Defence Force chief Peter Cosgrove and he expected
disciplinary action if there was any improper behaviour. "But my
experience is that our special forces are both very effective and
professional," he said.